And another..

As to the "non-OSHA-compliant" aspect of the ESPN The Magazine photo, do professional sports fall within the jurisdiction of OSHA and, more to the point, where do professional athletes fall within said jurisdiction? Surely the groundskeepers, custodial staff, security personnel, concession worker and all the others are "workers" in the standard sense of the word, but the athletes? I suppose they should be, but I don't really know.
Does the photo give Crown a bad name? Not a chance. As people say, no publicity is bad publicity and being seen on the front cover of a sports magazine touting America's #1 spectator sport is pure gold as far as publicity goes. Furthermore, the only people that will identify this cover as being "non-OSHA" will represent such a tiny sliver of the of the total readership that even if every one of them screamed about it at the top of their lungs, no one would even hear much less give it any attention.
Does it open forklift operator training to criticism? Not in my opinion but I suppose it could to some. However, the OSHA mandated forklift operator training standard is designed for actual operators working on industrial worksites. In my opinion, this cover does not have any more effect on forklift training than Hollywood car chases do on automobile driver training. The "stunt" pulled by ESPN on this cover was presumably executed by professionals under controlled circumstances with all due considerations for safety taken. If it was not, then shame on ESPN.

Rob Vetter
Director of Training
IVES Training & Compliance Group Inc

Regarding the Crown forklift on the ESPN The Magazine cover, there are two sides to every coin, so let us start with the first. As a professional trainer, I do not condone the use of powered industrial lift trucks to elevate individuals without the use of a safety cage (of certain minimum specifications) dually supported to the forklift. An individual must be wearing the proper PPE, which includes an approved belt or harness, and a tether (lanyard) not exceeding 5 feet (1.5 m). Therefore, the message to professional trainers, experienced competent operators, current trainees and the up-and-coming operators is wrong.
On the other side of the coin, this is merely a photo-op. I suppose Mr. Peterson is such a heavyweight that he requires a forklift to elevate and support him up in the air. This picture demonstrates the creativity of the magazine, the photographer, and all involved, except for the non-present OSHA representative. The forklift is merely a prop and, without reading the article, possibly ingenious.
This is a sports magazine, not a forklift, materials handling or warehousing magazine. The masses would not know the safety issues if they were standing underneath the forks, and the forks dropped and hit them on their heads. Many doctors, accountants and office managers know nothing about forklifts, or forklift safety, and they're obvious thoughts would probably be 'cool'. Nice looking truck! That is why forklift operators always look out for pedestrians because pedestrians are ignorant when it comes to forklifts.
Which brings me to this question: we have seen scantily clad models laying out on the hoods of exotic or customized vehicles, and ogled and stared at what we are looking at. That is okay because they beautiful models, however, the legality of a model spread out on the hood of one's car would also be considered illegal while driving on the streets.
Okay, so you say that the car is not actually moving, so there is no harm. Well, I do not believe that Adrian is actually working either. We all see movie posters of people killing others, reckless car driving, drug dealing and so forth. I guess the police would have some negative comments regarding what we see in film and magazine covers as well. But that is life. And sometimes, magazine covers do not always depict life as it should be.
Is it OSHA compliant? No, it isn't. Do I agree with what I see? No, I don't.
Is it a harmless photo shoot under controlled conditions just to get a point across? Yes it is. Do the masses, which this publication is geared for really care? No, they don't. It's done and over with. Do I care as a professional lift truck trainer as to what I see? Flip me a coin, and I will gladly tell you!

Danny Maron
owner and trainer
Ideal Forklift Training